According to Twitter, efforts are being made to improve the labeling of tweets with problematic 5G or corona virus content after users report that their tweets have been incorrectly labeled with a COVID-19 fact check.
"You may have seen tweets with labels in the past few weeks that refer to additional information about COVID-19." Twitter support tweeted. "Not all of these tweets had potentially misleading content related to COVID-19 and 5G."
In the past few weeks you may have seen tweets with labels that refer to additional information about COVID-19. Not all of these tweets may contain misleading content related to COVID-19 and 5G. We apologize for any ambiguity and are working to improve our labeling process. (1/4)
– Twitter support (@TwitterSupport) June 26, 2020
Twitter began reviewing tweets that linked 5G and the COVID-19 pandemic earlier this month by adding the "Get information about COVID-19" label that references a Twitter wait titled "No, 5G Does Not Cause Corona Virus". Part of a conspiracy theory that has been largely exposed has suggested that the spread of the corona virus is in some way related to the installation of new 5G cellular networks.
The fact check label is part of the broader effort by the social media company to attach it Warning signs to provide the context for tweets with misleading COVID-19 information. In April, the company went so far as to remove misleading COVID-19-related tweets that it saw as an incentive for people to engage in “harmful activity”.
But the system that determines which tweets are tagged appears to be a little overzealous. It appears that tweets with the words "oxygen" and "frequency" have been given the fact check label. The week assumes that "oxygen" and "frequency" can be keywords that trigger the label, as part of the conspiracy theory suggests that the 5G "frequency" is so harmful that it "sucks oxygen out of the atmosphere".
"Labeling tweets that may contain misleading information remains an iterative process," said a Twitter spokesman in an email The edge. “Given the worldwide spread of misinformation and controversial claims regarding 5G and COVID-19, we prioritized algorithmic labeling of tweets with this information. As we improve this process more closely, our goal is to show fewer labels on unrelated tweets. "
Twitter support says It's about "creating new automated features to apply these labels to tweets that we think are relevant," but it wasn't clear when the fixes would be applied.
UPDATE June 28, 8:43 am ET: Twitter spokesman's statement added
